surchinmy
Ultra ALPHA
Jun 22, 2004, 7:50 PM
Views: 5048
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Re: [icezcream] Is vaccination a must?
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Hi ...
The word "immunity" can have different meanings, depending on the context ...
When we refer to a dog's "general immunity level" - we are really trying to describe how healthy and effective a dog's system is - in resisting general infection ... Thus, a dog with good or healthy general immunity will have good general resistance to infections (of all types) ...
But when speaking of vaccination and measuring immunity ... the expression "immunity" is used slightly differently ... Here it means measuring the dog's immunity against a specific or particular virus infection ...
The general belief among those who DO NOT support annual vaccinations, is that if a dog already has good immunity against a particular viral infection (which immunity was induced by a previous vaccination) then the dog ought not to be vaccinated again ... Conventionally, the titer test is used to check the level of this kind of specific immunity.
The titer test is not cheap ... and requires correct equipment ... as for its accuracy (I do not know enough to comment) ...
Vaccination means the introduction of a treated & weaken virus into the dog, thus inducing a mild version of the infection - which stimulates the dog's immunity system to produce anti-bodies to combat the virus ... in so doing, the dog's system builds and develops a specific defensive mechanism against that particular for of viral infection - Thus, giving the dog immunity against that virus in virulent form.
Because vaccinations actually induce a mild form of the infection into the dog, vaccinations can be harmful or dangerous for dogs who are weak or have low general immunity ... because the introduction of the virus (albeit weakened) will still cause an infection. Which is why dogs are not supposed to be bathed or stress in the week after a vaccination ... and why some vets insist that dogs must be examined and pronounced generally healthy before the giving of vaccinations.
Check the above threads for more explanation.
Cheers 
(This post was edited by surchinmy on Jun 22, 2004, 8:25 PM)
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